New England Patriots sign special pair

Thursday

Mar 21, 2013 at 6:00 AM

The New England Patriots have re-signed cornerback Marquice Cole and linebacker Niko Koutouvides. Both unrestricted free agents whose signings were announced Wednesday are special teams players and substitutes on defense.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The New England Patriots have re-signed cornerback Marquice Cole and linebacker Niko Koutouvides.

Both unrestricted free agents whose signings were announced Wednesday are special teams players and substitutes on defense.

Cole joined the Patriots before last season after spending three years with the New York Jets. He started one of the 14 regular-season games he played for New England with 12 tackles and one interception on defense and seven tackles on special teams.

Koutouvides is a nine-year veteran who played for the Patriots the past two seasons. He played the last 14 regular-season games last year, making one tackle on defense and eight on special teams.

Both appeared in the Patriots’ two postseason games.

Free agent safety Ed Reed is on the verge of becoming a Houston Texan, according to multiple reports.

CBSSports.com reported Wednesday night that a deal was in place, and the NFL Network quoted Reed as saying he was headed to Houston “unless something changes.” Neither Reed nor his agent, David Dunn, immediately returned phone messages left by the AP.

The Texans wouldn’t confirm the reports, but it looks as if their bold, public courtship of Reed paid off.

NFL owners passed a player safety rule Wednesday barring ball carriers from using the crown of their helmets to make forcible contact with a defender in the open field.

Several coaches and team executives expressed concern about officiating the new rule, but commissioner Roger Goodell championed it and it passed as the owners meetings concluded in Phoenix.

Its passage by a 31-1 vote — Cincinnati voted no — was the second significant step in protecting defensive players; on Tuesday, the league took the peel-back block out of the game.

“There was a lot of discussion,” Steelers president Art Rooney said of the helmet crown rule, “but the way it was presented was the most effective way to address it.”

The tuck rule, one of the most criticized rules in pro football, was eliminated. Now, if a quarterback loses control of the ball before he has fully protected it after opting not to throw, it is a fumble.

Rooney said the Steelers were the only team to vote against getting rid of the tuck rule. New England and Washington abstained.

Video review now will be allowed on plays when a coach challenges even though he is not allowed to. But the coach will be penalized or lose a timeout, depending on when he threw the challenge flag.

That change stems from Houston’s Thanksgiving victory over Detroit in which Lions coach Jim Schwartz challenged a touchdown run by the Texans’ Justin Forsett. Although officials clearly missed Forsett being down by contact before breaking free on the 81-yard run, when Schwartz threw the red flag on a scoring play that automatically is reviewed, the referee could not go to replay. That loophole has been eliminated.

The Bears are parting ways with veteran linebacker Brian Urlacher after 13 years.

General manager Phil Emery said the team couldn’t agree on a contract with Urlacher, for years the heart and face of the franchise. He is now a free agent after missing the last four games of the season with a hamstring injury.

The Pro Bowl will return to Honolulu next January and again will be played the week before the Super Bowl.

Goodell said that the all-star game he once considered scrapping has been scheduled for Aloha Stadium on Jan. 26. He added that Hawaii will be included “on some sort of rotational basis” in any future Pro Bowl scheduling.